Ermanno Margheriti

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ermanno Margheriti ( April 8, 1919 in Cremona - February 6, 1944 in Mompiano ) was an Italian engineer , officer , opponent of the fascist Repubblica Sociale Italiana and representative of the Resistance . He was arrested, tortured, tried with Astolfo Lunardi , sentenced to death and executed.

life and work

His father was Adolfo Margheriti, machinist for the state railway company and anti-fascist, his mother's maiden name was Giovanna Scaranelli. In his childhood the family moved from Cremona to Brescia. He completed technical and commercial training, graduated with the professional title perito industriale and enrolled at the university. In Pavia he completed training as an officer in the engineering troop . In September 1940 he was drafted and initially sent to the front in Montenegro . This was followed by missions in Piedmont and the south of France . There he was surprised by the Cassibile armistice and the de facto takeover of power by the National Socialists in large parts of Italy.

Margheriti managed to evade arrest by the Germans, secretly returned to his homeland and joined the armed resistance there. In the Alta Valle Trompia he became a member of one of the Gruppi di Azione Patriottica (GAP) and subsequently lieutenant and right-hand man of Astolfo Lunardi, an important Catholic rebel leader who organized the resistance in Brescia and the surrounding area. Later, in court, also during the execution, the appearance of the two resistance fighters reminded many of those present of the classic roles of father and son: 53 and experience the older, 24 and strong the younger.

On January 5, 1944, Margheriti was arrested for treason, interrogated by the Political Department of the Bailiff and tortured. The fascists beat some names and information out of the man, and the next day Lunardi was arrested as well. This was followed by charges against both of them for "organizing armed gangs to commit crimes under Article 347 CP and guerrilla actions against the armed forces of the state". The trial took place on February 5, 1944. Lunardi tried to protect his co-defendant and to take all the guilt on himself, but in vain. Both were sentenced to death. Margheriti burst into tears, but quickly recovered herself. He wrote his last letter to his mother, in clear words: "Mamma, believe in me and my ideas [...] My sacrifice will not be the only one and my blood will be shed for an ideal." He assured her how much he loves his homeland - "and for it I sacrifice my life today."

At 4 a.m. the day after the verdict, the resistance fighters were executed by firing squad at the Mompiano shooting range. Ermanno Margheriti wanted to be shot standing, head bare. He was holding a small cross.

Award

Commemoration

The resistance magazine Il Ribelle (The Rebel), founded in March 1944 by Carlo Bianchi , Teresio Olivelli and Claudio Sartori , dedicated the cover of its first issue to the biographies and appreciation of the two people who had just been executed, Astolfo Lunardi and Ermanno Margheriti. One of the Brigades of the Fiamme Verdi bore his name.

Two memorial plaques commemorate the two resistance fighters who were executed, one at the place of execution in Mompiano, another in Via Demetrio Endei, 3 in Brescia, at Casa Alessandri.

The Scuolo Ermanno Margheriti , a secondary school in Collio , bears his name. In Brescia , Cazzago San Martino and Nave streets are named after him. Near the Lago d'Idro there is a hiking trail that bears his name, the Sentiero Brigata Fiamme Verdi Ermanno Margheriti .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Margheriti, Ermanno
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian engineer, officer and resistance fighter against fascism
DATE OF BIRTH April 8, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Cremona
DATE OF DEATH February 6, 1944
Place of death Mompiano